Live on PSN: Blur Multiplayer Demo

I love driving fast cars — and destroying them. Ever since the original Twisted Metal in 1995, I have always loved games that give me both wheels and weapons. I’ve never been much of a simulation guy, so while I can appreciate Gran Turismo’s beauty and stunning accuracy, I’m the type of gamer who can’t help but wonder why a rocket launcher doesn’t come standard.

Today, the PlayStation 3 demo of Blur became available in the PlayStation Store — and you know what comes standard? Pools of lightning bolts, explosive mines, bursts of nitro speed, and big glowing red balls of homing-missile danger. This is the kind of arcade-style combat racing that gets my motor running. Oh, and the mileage is excellent — I’ve been playing Blur for weeks now and I’m still not bored.

The Blur multiplayer demo gives you a pretty sizeable chunk of what the game has to offer. A dozen real-world cars, including I’ll-never-own-it-but-I-can-drool rides like the Lotus Exige Cup 260 and Ford GT; six tracks in two gameplay modes; seven mods that let you tweak the game mechanics to match your style of play; all eight of the chaotic power-ups; and the ability to boast about your skills to friends on the PlayStation Network with a single button press. (The full retail version also lets you brag on Facebook and Twitter.)

I’ve been pretty vocal about my love of this game over at oneofswords.com. I have hosted PS3 Blur gameplay nights on multiple continents, and have more in the works. I shared some of my personal Blur strategies for success (and people used them against me). I even had Gareth Wilson, lead designer from developer Bizarre Creations, on my podcast to explain some of the choices that went into the game and wound up getting him to reveal a key to success that I’ve been personally milking all the way to the finish line.

If you haven’t tried Blur yet, it’s understandable – heaven knows there are plenty of options when it comes to quality PS3 racing games. But the demo’s free for the taking as of today, so check it out and let me know if you feel what I feel when you play it – I’m @OneOfSwords on Twitter. And know that I’m serious when I say I will see you on the track…

I can’t believe how many people here inexplicably hate Blur just because it’s published by Activision. BOO HOO, THE DEMO IS LATE! WHAAAA! WE DIDN’T GET A BETA!!! Shut up, seriously. I bet if I look at most of your trophy lists, I’ll find Activision games all over the place, and probably Call of Duty Black Ops too, come the fall.

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Blur is pretty good. I say this as someone who has actually PLAYED it. I like the neon colors – it makes it unique, and reminds me of Geometry Wars’ aesthetic to a degree. I generally don’t like car or racing games (GT5P is cool, Burnout Paradise too, using a racing wheel), but I’ve played Blur more than I thought I would (offline, mostly).

That being said, Activision needed to put a bit more weight behind it (and Singularity, too). Oh, and racing wheel support woulda been nice… I can make due with a gamepad, but I generally don’t bother – luckily I got the game for a good enough price that I decided to try it anyhow. I really don’t understand why ANY car game releases without even basic wheel support.

Whats with all the freaking EMO”S with their ” you took it to other consoles first , so now ill go cut myself about it ” routine ? dang emo’s like to turn everything into a conspiracy . ” you should do everything i say … TRUST ME …. im a video gamer ” …. LOL just take your mood stabilizers and play your games and save the drama for your mama .

@53 fuzzyclutter
So because other PS3 owners demand equal treatment, they should be consider gamers? Ah yes, how dare people demand to be treated equal. I guess women and “color” people are all EMO’s also because at one point in time they demanded to be treated equally.

I remember that book you wrote on PS2 for dummies. Still have it.lol And about your reply to a comment talking about the MOH beta. It should be on all platforms at the same time. It is after all a multi platform game.

The game was actually built intentionally without steering wheel support, from what I understand. They did not want it to be confused for a racing sim; it’s supposed to be a pick-up-and-play, accessible game for everybody. And everybody has the standard controller. It was a design decision, and I can see their reasoning. I can also see why you’d expect a racing game to support a racing wheel, though.

@Dan Amrich
“I heard so many people talking about it on PS3, combined with the MOH love at Sony’s E3 press conference, that I actually did think it was PS3 exclusive for consoles”
According to your logic, Call of Duty Black Op’s is an Xbox 360 exclusive because we only seen Xbox 360 coverage of the game so far at it was at the MS Press Conference. Oh and let not forget the time exclusive maps for MW2 all future COD game add-on on the xbox 360.

Single player impossible to finish first? Not my experience — I actually got all 50 lights on both the first and second stages on Medium skill level. It wasn’t until the third stage that I started to really have to fight. If you’re good at multi, you’ll be able to handle single, I think.

That racing wheel reply was for me. I understand the reasoning, but I nearly skipped the game because of it (and I know others who were very disappointed that it didn’t have it, as well). I wish I could change their mind and send a patch… Wheels shouldn’t be just for sims.

It’s disappointing that so many car games don’t support wheels or even SIXAXIS (I used to play Burnout Paradise exclusively with motion control, until I bought my wheel. It worked rather well). If there’s a Blur 2 and it doesn’t have wheel support, I can’t say I’ll definitely buy it. With wheel support, I probably would unless there’s something really wrong about it (ie: major art direction change – I like the neon!).

I’d buy the MotorStorm games if they had wheel support, too. But they don’t…

Come on guys leave the poor guy alone. He works for Activison, big deal, he’s still a human being. He’s just trying to do his job. I don’t think you guys understand how hard it is to make a game. Im going to school now for programming and its really tough. So lay off the guy and the game, like my mother used to say “If you cant say something nice than dont say anything at all”. You can criticize but dont bully Dan, the devs, or the game.

I’m glad there is finally a demo for this game. It might be the first Activision published game I buy in a really long time. It would be nice to see Transformers, Singularity, and Spiderman Shattered dimensions demos as well. I only wish it came earlier, like you said the game came out in a pretty crowded time and the fact that there was no demo on the PSN for Blur made many peoples decisions a whole lot easier. Anyway the game looks great and the Mario Kart-esque power up system seem like fun.

the demo was okay. i can understand the hard feelings towards activision and i don’t even play COD or GH. hey they have their priorities and i have mine, because i eventually want to pick up transformers. eventually.

1.Split Second (SS) (having just platinumed it) having just played the blur demo its miles behind split second and that wasn’t perfect but there is no sense of speed like SS the handling leaves an awful lot be desired with the cars on blur feeling detached and somehow also clunky while drifting and just general driving in split second feels fast hard very rewarding when you get it right blur feels well meeehh. The game has nowhere near the same adrenaline fuelled atmosphere of split second little weapons don’t beat the feel of wrecking every other car on the road with an exploding dam. the car damage leaves an awful lot to be desired. And to finish it off the sound was lack lustre with cars sounded nothingie with weapons have no real sense of feel or danger again unlike a plane crashing into the runway your on.

2. Mario Kart everything about that game is better than blur from the handling of the cars to the power ups to the sound track. i could go into it in depth like split second but tbh i can’t be bothered.

Sorry to say anyone that has any taste in games will play this demo and laugh at you it really is very very mediocre. and that’s why it’s not selling.

Activision stop making the same games over and over again be innovative and you might do better oh and by the way call of duty black ops is not innovative it will be another generic first person shooter like the rest of them.

P.S When demo’s are released way after the game is released all gamers go oops there hiding something problem is we are normally right!

You know, it’s funny you mention the sense of speed being off for you — because to me, Split/Second felt a bit sluggish and I felt like I was not moving as fast as I move when I’m in Blur. I’ve seen people say the same thing about both games — that each one is “fast” and each one is “slow.” I can only chalk that up to personal perception. They both averaged the same score (82 out of 100) so clearly, both games have something to recommend them.

Let’s wait until Black Ops actually comes out before passing judgment on its innovation. I haven’t played Black Ops yet — and I know you haven’t either.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the demo of this out last night. I didn’t think we were going to get this, but I’m glad we did (even if it is later). I only had about 3 games on the 360 demo when I had a free gold weekend. Now I’m happy to be able to give it an honest go through. :)

Why are people on here talking about MOH (BETA) it’s an EA game?
Activision has nothing to do with it. And DICE/EA dosn’t care much for COD.
Haven’t had time to play demo but I still love FREE stuff (PSN) if it’s late no big deal. I got alot of games to catch up on. Becouse SONY has the best games on the planet. To much TEEN crying on this blog any more can’t stand it. where have the adults gone?

well im not from the us (this explans the bad grammer) but from eu. i like blur alot, like MNR better (because of all the new levels). but if you have the money, looking at some games, then blur might be the one you shuld get.

How Come you made this Demo MP only? Did XBL get this same Demo? And are you going to release a single-player only Demo? Because I’m going to get the game in a few weeks and I’m wondering What the single-player mode is like.

I did not make this demo — I’m the messenger, not the programmer. The 360 game is also multiplayer-only. The single-player mode is a series of race challenges against AI cars; when you earn enough “lights” in those races, you race one-on-one with a boss character; if you beat them, you win their car for use in single and multiplayer races. It’s fairly standard as single-player racing modes go; many driving games use a similar “race, then progress and unlock stuff” structure.

You guys really shouldn’t be trolling every time someone comes to the blog. It’s nice to see new faces come around and post.
To everyone trolling and bashing:

If you don’t like the game, the company, or whatever just keep that to yourself. You trolling around only makes the rest of us look bad and it gives off a bad vibe for those of us who do appreciate new people and games. We don’t want everyone to think the blog is filled with a bunch of trolls who bash anything and everything as soon as someone steps to the blog. Grow up guys.

With that said I really enjoyed this demo. I have a blast playing it every time! Short on cash right now so I put it at the top of my Q for GameFly. Hopefully I get it!

I always start my games on medium and from what your experience has been, i’ll be buying it this weekend. Even after getting to level 10 in the demo, I still can’t stop playing it. It’s just that fun and the colors in the demo altogether is pretty trippy! :D

For some reason I was enjoying the demo a lot more on PS3 than I did when I tried the 360 version.

As long as you go in with the mindset that this is a realistic-looking kart style racer, and not an arcade racer that is supposed to be as deep as something like PGR, then you’ll have more fun with it.

I have to say I was really getting addicted to the levelling system. Does your rank carry over from the demo to the full game? If so that would be awesome.

Good to see your post here about this. My question is, why on Earth has it taken so long to get a demo on PS3? This seems to be my number 1 complaint about the platform, other than the entire party voice chat thing.

Doesn’t matter if it is disc or digital releases, Xbox 360 has the demos and PS3 does not – happens time and again on XBLA. Take for example that PSN game this week, Landit Bandit. I might be inclined to spend my $10 on it, but it would help greatly if I could play a demo of it.

I can understand when a developer only does a beta on one platform (and BTW, that rocked and totally sold the game for me) but when you see a demo like this come out so far after the game has hit shelves, you have to wonder.

It’s about resources, not quality. X number of people have Y amount of time to make a game, and Z number of things that need to be done. My guess is that the part of the team responsible for the demo could only make one version at a time, and followed the 360 beta with the demo first — you know, finish up one project before moving onto another. That’s my guess anyway.

As for making you wonder, I think the demo speaks for itself in this regard. Yes, it’s late, and I am in the “better late than never” camp, especially for a game that had stiff competition in its genre at release. The demo may not be the kind of game you want to play, but it’s not a low-quality or low-content demo.

Blur is a great game, My friends and I play the 4 player split-screen mode all the time!!! we play that more then MW2!!!! The On line of blur is awesome with perks and all. it is like MW2 but car style! thank you for making a great game. You think it would be possible though to have those perks in offline 4 player split-screen and allow us to level up in 4 player split screen like the online mode?

yeah, i played 1 round lastnight.
didn’t like it at all.
I’m a race fan but, this doesn’t feel like racing.
Now i can’t get on the servers to try it out again.

Also dan to reply about 2 comments you made.
1 demos do sell games but, there are somethings involved.
Those are the demo has to include a little of both sp & mp.
the demo has to be good.
There isn’t a time limit.
And the demo has to be out before the game is.

Now for your crack on moh beta.
i’m in it and i don’t like it.
there’s to many things wrong with it.
it seems generic.
It’s a rental only.

I actually purchased ModNation Racers and Split/Second also, but this game has a whole new level of polish. All three games are excellent, but Bizarre really knows their strengths. And with their time spent on the PGR series, they have perfected the arcade/sim middle ground. They know like no other, how to ride the line of real-world racing with accessible controls for those of us who don’t take to sims.

If you can, definitely play all three games, but don’t hold the release date of the beta against Blur. Play the demo and give it a fair shake. The single player and multiplayer modes are both excellent, and the integration of the friend challenges, rivals and experience progression (fans/lights) into all aspects of the game make for an addicting combination.

This smacks of desparation. Wait nvm it is desparation. But what do you expect from a company who treats its customers as 2nd class especially on a console who’s manufacturer treats these same customers as second class. The only reason this game has gotten even this small amount of attentionis GT5 is years late. Even that is of no consequance as theres so many other racing games available.

Gotta love all of the haters in here because it’s “too late”…
Download it and see if you like it or not.. don’t refuse to DL it because the demo is late getting out. If a game is good, then it’s good no matter if the demo came out late or not.

I’ll be downloading it tonight (and here’s a novel idea) I’m actually going to PLAY the game before I decide if I like it.

Hope it’s fun, and if it is, I’ll buy it… even though it has already been out for a little while.